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The Five Oceans
Introduction

COME AND DISCOVER ALL THE AMAZING FEATURES OF THE MARINE BIOME! The marine biome is so interesting because it is found in all five oceans, which means the earth consists of 3/4ths of this biome(Marine Biome)! That’s extraordinary! Depending on where you are on the earth and which ocean you decide to go to, the wind temperature would match the temperature of the biomes waters(World Biomes)! So if you’re closer to the equator (the hotter it will be) and if you’re near an ocean, you might as well take a swim(Marine Biome)! It would feel like you’re in a HOT TUB! Many plants and animals are found here in the ocean, and some fish you will find YOU HAVE NEVER SEEN BEFORE! We're offering a week trip! You should enter for a chance to win to either the GREAT BARRIER REEF, the MARINA TRENCH, and the WAQUOIT BAY! It would be an OUTSTANDING TRIP!
We hope you have a blast!




Three Distinct Locations


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Aerial View Of Bay
Waquiot Bay is located on the south shore of Cape Cod (National Estuarine Research Reserve System). It is consisted of 2,700 acres of land open: 1,286 acres of upland and 1,359 acres of Estuarine water, freshwater ponds, tribuatary streams, vernal pools and substantial groundwater resources (NERRS). 2.5 MILES is made up of BEACH(RESOURCES OF THE RESERVE - Natural Resources). It has many different seasons since it is located in Massachusetts: there is the summer season where you want to bring bathing suits to go swimming, the fall season where you would want a pair of pants and a long sleeve, maybe even a sweatshirt, the winter season where it is so cold you want to layer up on clothes since your right by the water, and the spring season where you can bring your shorts back out and you might even need a sweatshirt with the winds the waters of Waquiot Bay bring to the land.

Map


The area in the red outline below in the map is where the Waquoit Bay is located.






















Highlighted Species


Plants

Sandplain grasslands are plants which in located in Waquoit Bay (Matlock, Marty, ed.). They are treeless grasslands (ERRMRP). The plants are long, light green, and can reach the height of FOUR to EIGHT inches tall (DNR). When summer season comes the plants soon produces pink and purple flowers (DNR). They have unusual background from not having an identity for a long time until 1984 (DNR).

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A view of the bay


Animals


There are many fish species that are located in the Waquiot Bay. One of those

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A Flounder
species of fish is known as the flounder. The flounder are in the flatfish family and are also sometimes called flukes. Their appearance sets them apart from other fish since they have eyes on the sides of their bodies. The types of flounder found in the Waquiot Bay are called summer flounder since the bay is part of the northeastern waters on the coast. The flounder are very lean, and firm. Flounder are good for using in meals, because of their white flakiness, so cooks tend to use flounder a lot.

The flounder is important to the Marine Biome ecosystem. It provides food to their predators.
Predators of the flounder include:
  • Spiny Dogfish
  • Monkfish
  • Cod
  • Hakes
  • Longhorn
  • Sea Raven
  • Sculpin
  • Fourspot Flounder
  • Big Sharks
  • Rays
  • Monkfish
Because these predators feed on the flounder, they are guaranteed food, making the flounder important. ("Summer Flounder.")

Make sure you check out the flounder when you come and visit the Waquoit Bay!




Climate

In the Waquoit Bay, the climate differs depending on which season it is in it's location. If it is summer time in the Cape Cod, it is hot. If it is winter, it is cold. If it is autumn, it is cool. If it is spring, it is a mixture of cold and hot. There is really no climate in the actual bay since it is underwater.



FOOD WEB


In the food below, the organisms all play a part in it. The producers include the coral and the plankton & phytoplankton.


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Waquoit bay food web.jpg






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If you haven’t been to the Great Barrier Reef you are missing out big time! If you don’t know much about it, The Great Barrier Reef is a huge reef system stretching 1600 mi. from Cape York to Lady Elliot Island along the northern coast of Queensland, Australia. The Great Barrier Reef has an area of 133,000 square mi. The Great Barrier Reef isn't just one reef on its own, it is made up of over 2,900 individual reefs. It is made up of fringing and barrier reefs, continental islands, coral cays, and 70 different bio-regions. All these features make it the largest concentration of life on the planet, supporting 1500 unique species of fish, 400 different species of corral, 10000 species of sponges, 4000 species of mollusks and 6 of the world's 7 species of sea turtles. The diversity of plants and animals make it one of the coolest diving spots in the entire world! The diving at the Great Barrier Reef is also very refreshing because of how nice the water temperature is. The water temperature at the Great Barrier Reef varies depending on the time of year. During the fall and winter seasons the average water temperature is anywhere from 79 - 84 degrees Fahrenheit. As the seasons change, the water gets a bit colder. During the summer and spring the water temperature is anywhere from 72 – 80 degrees Fahrenheit. The Great Barrier Reef is an exciting place and wonderful vacation spot. It would be a shame if you didn't come and visit!

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An Underwater View of The GBR






Highlighted Species:Tiger Sharktiger-shark_740_600x450.jpg
Now of course during your dives in one of the many reefs of the Great Barrier Reef you can look at the large spectrum of colorful fish and coral, but not go dangerous, why not go extreme, why not swim with a man-eating shark. Tiger sharks earned their names for the dark, vertical stripes found on juvenile sharks. Much like their land-bound namesake, tiger sharks are vicious hunters with a near limitless menu. Tiger sharks are famed for ability to just about anything they can lay their eyes on. Tiger sharks will eat everything from fish, turtle, clams, stingrays, sea snakes, seals, birds, squids, garbage, and (a previously metioned) humans. Tiger sharks rank #2 to most attacks on humans in the world, second only to the infamous great whites. Tiger sharks live in coastal tropical/subtropical waters all over the world. Make your trip to the Great Barrier Reef complete by swimming with a voracious man-eater during your next trip.


Food WebGreat_Barrier_Reef_Food_Web_.pngIn this food web the producers are kelp, algea, and coral. First level consumers are consumers are clown fish, sea urchin, dugong, and krill. Second level consumers are sea snake, and, sea bass and whale shark. Third level consumers are barracuda and tiger shark.




Diver exploring the magnificent variety of corals while swimming with the fish.
Diver exploring the magnificent variety of corals while swimming with the fish.
Diver exploring the magnificent variety of corals while swimming with the fish.






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The Mariana Trench is the darkest, deepest, coldest and most pressurized point in the ocean. The trench is located off the coast of the Philippines; overall, It is about ~1500 miles (2550km) long and ~43 miles (69km) wide. It's deepest point, Challenger Deep, is 200 miles (322km) from the surface of the ocean. If Everest were dropped into the trench, it would be more than a mile underwater. In 1872, the Challenger expedition aimed to explore the deep sea. 3 1/2 years later, it covered 79k miles of discovering new places. It dived down to the deepest part of the ocean, the Mariana Trench and Challenger Deep. It took more than 20 years to examine all of the expedition's findings.
Because of the harsh, nearly uninhabitable conditions at these depths, some strange creatures have adapted to live down there...


Such as the flashlight fish,
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fsdf
the angler fish,
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the dragon viper fish,
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the firefly squid,

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and the hatchetfish.
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These are just a few examples of the odd creatures of the deep.


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Most of these creatures live in the abyssopelagic zone of the trench and below. The area is so pressurized, if they were simply brought to the surface by a net or a fishing line, they would die instantly. They have adapted to withstand the pressure of the water crushing down so heavily that deep in the ocean, which is part of the reason why most of the creatures living down here are so small.



Food Web
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Marine food pyramid.png

Mariana Trench Food Web


Highlighted Species

Angler Fish
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Recognize that ugly face? What about the long spine on it's head? Yes folks, this is an angler fish, the same kind of fish made famous by the movie "Finding Nemo." This fish is important to it's location because they're a fish found in many places allover the ocean (granted the depth of the area is 3000 feet below the surface) and because it's a fish that creates it's own light; it's called 'bioluminescence." It's created in the light-producing areas of the fish by special types of algae, and for the angler it's at the end of the long spine on top of it's head. This neat trick evolved in the angler because it uses it's personal light to attract meals.


Picture of the Mariana Trench BELOW!

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A depth diagram of the trench






































































































































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